Vehicle floor skid rail and securing means



June 26, 1956 N. E. COLE VEHICLE FLOOR sxm RAIL .AND SECURING MEANS Filed March 20, 1952 NELSON E .COL E Ax ,I

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United States Patent() 1 2,752,013 VEHICLE FLoon sun) RAIL AND SECURING ttmANs Nelson E. Cole, Reading, Pa., assigner to Dana Corporation, Toledo, hio, a corporation of Virginia Application March 20, 1952, Serial No. 277,655 2 Claims. (Cl. 189-34) This invention relates to vehicle floors and is more particularly directed to an improved metallic skid rail and joint member for truck, trailer or other commercial vehicle floors fabricated primarily of wood or other nonmetallic material.

An object of the present invention is to provide a combined skid rail and joint member suitable for attachment to a oor board prior to the installation of the oor boards over the cross sills of the vehicle.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for sealing or closing the joints between the floor boards while permitting normal expansion and contraction of the wood or other floor board material due to moisture or other variables.

Another object of the invention is to provide a floor board with an improved skid rail and joint member which combination does not require the use of bolts, screws or the like or the drilling of holes to secure the floor to the cross sills of the vehicle.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a positive metallic reinforcement for oors which increases the bearing and bending resistance capacity of the tloor boards between the cross sills as well as protecting the edges of the oor boards from crushing or splintering.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide an improved method of preparing iioor boards for installation in such a manner that a minimum of time is required to build a complete oor.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a vehicle door incorporating the present invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional detail view illustrating the attachment of the skid rail to a vehicle cross sill;

Figure 3 is an end view of a oor board with a skid rail about to be applied.

Figure 4 is a perspective View of a portion of the skid rail shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing a modied form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 illustrates a portion of a vehicle floor which incorporates the present invention, the iloor being laid directly on the usual cross sills 11 of conventional channel form. A plurality of parallel boards 12 of wood or the like are secured to the sills after having previously been prepared for such installation. Each board is provided with an undercut portion 14 in one face 16 adjacent an edge 18 thereof. It will be noted that this cut is considerably more shallow than the usual ship-lap.

To edge 18 of the iloor board 12 is applied a metallic member 20 generally Z shaped in cross section having a web portion 22 and leg or flange portions 24 and 26 extending in opposite directions from the web 22 at substantially right angles thereto. The web of the Z member is preferably pierced at spaced points 27 to'receive fasteners such as the nails 28 adapted to be driven into the board 12. It will be noted that the nails 28 are preferably short and heavy so that they may driven into hard wood boards such as oak or the like. When the member 20 is assembled with the board 12 the leg 26 provides a ange which overlies the next adjacent board, such board being provided with an undercut portion 30 2,752,013 Patented June 26, 1956 to receive the leg 26. The flange provided by leg 26 is of suilicient width to cover the marginal edge of the adjacent board sutiiciently to compensate for shrinkage, it being unnecessary and in fact undesirable to butt the edges of adjacent boards together tightly. The free edge of leg 26 may be turned downwardly slightly to provide a seal at its line of contact and thus between two adjacent boards.

Should it be desirable to use door boards of the softer woods, the skid rail shown in Figure 5 may be used. ln this type of rail it will be noted that instead of providing the web with perforations to receive separate fasteners, the web may be formed with integral fastening means such as the points 34 cut and bent out of the plane of the web so that they are at right angles to the web. It will be clear that this arrangement eliminates the need for separate fasteners, it being necessary only to lay the strip on the edge of a board and drive the points 34 into the wood.

After the complete oor is laid on the sills 11 it is desirable to secure it in place which now becomes a very easy and fast operation. It will be noted that as each lower ange of the skid rail engages the top ilanges of the cross sills, as shown in Figure 2, it is only necessary to weld flange 24 to the flange 38 at each juncture. By so doing it will be clear that not only is the floor secured firmly to the sills but also the entire structure greatly strengthened by increasing the bearing capacity of the iloor and also increasing its resistance to bending.

What I claim is:

1. In a vehicle body having a plurality of cross sills, a ooring for said body comprising a plurality of laterally spaced boards, each of said boards being provided with a skid rail having a web portion secured to one edge thereof, said skid rail having a horizontal portion spanning the space between adjacent lloor boards, and a second horizontal portion underlying only the board to which it is secured and said underlying portion engaging the cross sills, and welds between each of said sills and said underlying portions of said skid rails, said welds being the only means to secure said flooring to said cross sills, the space between said boards being such that free expansion and contraction is permitted while still conned by the first horizontal portion of said skid rail.

2. In a vehicle body having a plurality of cross sills, flooring for said body comprising a plurality of preassembled door boards and Z-shaped metallic joint members, each of said joint members having a web portion secured to an edge of-its respective board, said ooring being arranged on said sills so that one horizontal ange of the joint member overlies the next adjacent board and the other horizontal flange of the joint member underlies only the board to which it is secured and engages the cross sills, the underlying portions being subsequently secured to said sills by a weld at each of said sills, said boards being secured in position on said cross sills solely by said joint members.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 951,256 Newberry Mar. 8, 1910 989,182 Murray Apr. 11, 1911 1,219,123 Macmechen et al. Mar. 13, 1917 1,379,516 Benjamin May 24, 1921 1,714,845 Callahan May 28, 1929 1,750,416 Mayes Mar. 11, 1930 2,182,015 Davis Dec. 5, 1939 OTHER REFERENCES Steel-ribbed oor strengthens trailer chassis, Commercial Car Journal, September 1944, page 70. 

